Toy Spies
by Wacky Walnut
Summary: The Decepticon's plan to destroy the youth zone, this is the final day but not that anyone knows it. Baby Bee featured. Final chapter up and bring out the tissues
1. Chapter 1

Toy Spies

Disclaimer: Usual routine, do not own Transformers in any way shape or form, they all belong to Hasbro and Paramount and the comic guys. Not making any money out of this either so don't sue me okay? Butterfly's mine and most of the inspiration comes from the series of sparkling fics that are cropping up all over the place.

Authors note: Well I'm back and no this is not a sequel to Curse of the Furby (though if anyone would be kind enough to suggest some toy that I could torture the Autobots with it would be appreciated) but another little ficcy idea I've had for some time but never really managed to get going. Hopefully I've got everything quite right now and fingers crossed we'll get something good out of this.

Genre: Family/humour

Rating:

Plot: Growing up in war is never an easy thing, especially if you're supposed to be on neutral ground. Bringing up sparklings though almost rivals it in its complexity.

Setting notes: This is pre-movie/series/books and is set on Cybertron so things will be a bit on the odd side. Also I don't actually know if there was a Youth Zone Protection Force but it just makes things easier. Right I'm going to shut up and start writing now.

--

Chapter 1 – Sneaking

The command deck was surprisingly quiet for once, a thing that Jazz was glad of. Usually there were computers going on the fritz, bots arguing over something or other, a recent invasion of five sparklings and thousands of reports streaming in from every last sector about Decepticon's attacking, pillaging or generally causing some form of disaster that was proving to be a big strain on every last resource on the planet.

Even the power plants were having trouble keeping up, which probably explained why it was so quiet.

Or it could be that little cassette had gotten loose again.

Jazz sighed and ran checks on all the systems, finding nothing wrong except the power output was indeed down to only 25. That was bad.

He leaned back, exhaling loudly and failing to hear the sound of shifting metal. Tonight was just not his night, with the power down it would be next to impossible to keep track of anything that was going on which would mean the stupid fraggin cons could do some real damage without them noticing.

A shadow crept silently towards his exposed neck.

Sitting up, Jazz contemplated his options. Leaving was out of the question whilst trying to communicate any distance required a lot of energon, which they clearly did not have.

Unseen, a several long fingers reached forward, hardly making a sound in the slithers of light that came from the nearby moon.

"Life's not fair!" he grumbled out loud and sat forward, still unaware of the presence behind him.

The fingers continued to creep towards him, a second set joining the first and creeping towards the lower leg plating. Jazz ideally began tapping into the console in some vain hope of getting a coded message across to Prime who was somewhere over in the eastern sector.

"JAZZ!" came a high pitched voice, followed by the simultaneous insertion of the long fingers into his neck and leg which sent a jolt of shock, fear and instant movement towards the floor through the first lieutenant so quick that he thought for a second that everything was going crazy and they were under attack by some hyperactive ball of heated plasma.

He stared panic-stricken at the new figure of half-a-nanosecond and then glared dangerously, "For Primus sake! Butterfly you little fricking microchip of doom! What you do that for!"

Butterfly just chuckled and grinned good naturedly, "The opportunity presented itself. What can I say more than that?"

Jazz regarded the youngling closely. True she was no longer considered to be a youngling as she had reached maturity a couple of vorns ago but she would always be a youngling to him. Even her appearance suggested that with her small height – she was actually smaller than Jazz, which he was secretly pleased about -, basic armour arrangement, and curious crystal eyes that proved she was yet to choose a side.

And the prosthetic plat that ran down the length of her back, something which should have disappeared automatically once she stopped being a sparkling but for some reason it had stuck firmly to the back of her head and neck joints.

"I could have damn well shot you, or worse" he grumbled, trying to be angry but failing dramatically. Jazz hated to admit to anyone that he felt a certain fondness for the crazy fem but he regarded her as a sort of distant relative. "What would you have done then?"

She shrugged, "How am I to know? Besides, you're fun to scare" the grinned that crossed her face reminded him of Sideswipe, "and I'm still allowed to have a little fun right? You don't want me being serious all the time"

Jazz sighed, deciding to change the subject quick before this conversation got out of hand, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were on patrol tonight?"

Shaking her head, Butterfly pulled out a small round object from a hidden compartment under the blade release on her right arm and threw it across to him, "Optimus may be interested in that"

"Why?" Jazz looked at the small tube, turning it this way and that in thought.

The Fem smiled, "It's just some plans I managed to swipe, pretty important ones to I think" she frowned a little but shrugged at the half-glance Jazz gave her before he began work on getting the information across, "All I know is that it took some hacking to get at it, I don't think even that idiot Starscream had access to it"

Jazz began uploading the information, "I'll check this out. If it turns out to be Eggheads diary though I'm going to seriously do you some harm"

Butterfly rolled her optics and started off towards the exit, instinctively hitting a side panel to boost up the power output in the building, "You should get Tapes to have a look at that, before the whole system blows". She didn't get a reply and instead decided to head off in the direction of a certain little mini-bot that made her look like a little angle.

--

"I order you to come out this instant!" grumbled Ironhide, trying to reach under the re-charge cubical to grab hold of Bumblebee who was yet again refusing to go into stasis. Normally this wouldn't have been to much of a deal for the heavy arms specialist but since the little one had virtually been left unattended for half of the day with a stack of video-chips and a rather large bottle of extra boost energon the little bouncing metal ball had gone literally into hyperactive mode.

"No! Play play play!" screeched the tiny figure, jumping from the top of the recharge unit and landing rather haphazardly on the older mech's shoulders.

Two astroseconds later, Prowl opened to door in order to help his friend out. There were just some things that required a bit more manpower. "Bee…" he started, sounding as threatening as he dared.

"No, don't…" before Ironhide could even finish his sentence the mini-bot terror was out the door and halfway down the corridor.

"Nice going!" he shot before charging after the youngling with a rather irritate Prowl in tow.

--

Finding the nearest hiding place, Bee had to stop himself from giggling out loud as the security officer went straight past him and Ironhide disappeared down the corridor. This was certainly going to be a fun game with no reset option.

Waiting for a few moments, just to ensure that everything was fine, Bee crawled out from his hiding place and headed back the way he had come until he reached a rather dented panel. Knocking it aside, he clambered in and tunnelled about quite happily.

It would take them hours to even get a hint of where he was and there were plenty of opportunities for spying around here.

Had Bee actually taken time to notice his surroundings he may have noticed that the old ventilation system was definitely not the place to play in as it was starting to show a lot of rusted areas. But he was barely out of sparkhood, which meant exploration, making mistakes and scaring the fritz out of any processor of anyone whom was supposed to be watching him.

"Hee hee, Imma likkle Bee!" he crooned childishly to himself.

--

"Ratchet!"

The medic looked up from his current work and frowned at the annoyed Prowl, "Before you ask, no he's not anywhere around here. Please tell me you didn't open the door?"

The green mech glared dangerously at the medic, "When I get my hands on that fraggin microchip" and then promptly disappeared down the corridor, cursing away to himself in cybertronian.

Elita shook her head, trying to suppress a smile, "You boys certainly have a lot to learn about raising younglings"

The medic sighed and nodded in agreement, "I still say he should be with the others in the youth zone. It would be a safer place"

"Not going to happen anytime soon, I can promise you that. Besides, he's a born Autobot" Elita sounded quite proud of that fact and Ratchet would have agreed but the circumstances around Bee's heritage was enough to make him hold his tongue.

"Let's just hope he remains that way…now, give me that hand before Prime finds out or else we'll both be in a whole heap of a lot of trouble"

--

After almost three orns of searching, or at least what felt like three orns, both Ironhide and Prowl were exhausted beyond relief and those that had been 'recruited' to the cause were trying to think of sensible ways to get out of both the two older mechs way. Sideswipe in particular after cracking one to many jokes that had earned him a sharp bonk on the head.

"I swear that little micro-monster is going to…" started Prowl, growling angrily only to find himself clipped around the audios.

"If you wake him up, Prowl, I'll ensure that you get stuck on duty with fifty little micro-monsters!" stated Butterfly in a half-hushed whisper of annoyance.

Prowl blinked at her, "When did you get here?" he noticed that some of the others were slipping away as quietly as they dared.

"And how did you get him to recharge?" Ironhide said, moving towards the bed where Bumblebee lay in a deep stasis clutching a rather much loved and battered bear tightly.

"A short while ago and he's nothing compared to some of them in the zone" replied Butterfly with a smile and a gentle wave to Sides before crossing back across to the booth.

Prowl sighed, "I'll believe that when I see it" he was fed up of looking after the sparkling right now. Everything was going crazy and the security officer wanted to spend more time concentrating on what he should be doing.

"Fancy swapping shifts?" teased the little fem, before running a hand over the little creatures head.

"Not a chance in the pit-slag.."

"Language!" shot the other two mechs before falling into quiet laughter.

Finally everything subsided and Butterfly sighed, "I'd better get going, who knows what mess those little blighters will have caused"

Prowl waited until she had disappeared before addressing Ironhide, "You think she would stay longer…I mean, he is…"

"Don't press it. She made her decision and now lives with the consequences" Ironhide gently nudged the security officer out of the room, "One day things will change, but for now, she's happy".

--

The Youth Zone emblem glimmered slightly in the fake light of the local street lamp as Barricade silently watched the entrance. This idea was probably one of the worst that Megatron had come up with but it was one that would deal a great blow to Autobot and Neutral alike.

However, his spark felt a little heavy. It would mean the loss of the one thing in his life that was important but what was life without sacrifice? "Barricade reporting in…Youth Zone infiltrated"

--

Authors note: Well a bit random and strange but I promise there will be a bit more sparkling mess next time around. Particularly if I give Sunny and Sides detention duty with the little blighters. Please review and tell me what you think or give me an idea or two.


	2. Chapter 2

Toy Spies

Disclaimer: Usual routine, do not own Transformers in any way shape or form, they all belong to Hasbro and Paramount and the comic guys. Not making any money out of this either so please don't sue me okay? Butterfly's mine and most of the inspiration comes from the series of sparkling fics that are cropping up all over the place.

Genre: Family/humour/angst

Authors note: So sorry this has taken so long to be updated, I feel quite the fool for allowing it to happen for so long. Anyway I finally re-found my inspiration and there should only be a couple of chapters to write now and hopefully it'll be up to peoples expectations.

--

Chapter 2 – Clock Start

Hiding in a fairly large building was usually not a problem at all but with several thousand sparklings running around it was next to impossible. Even the little handful Frenzy would have trouble here and Barricade was beginning to wish, not for the first time, that he had not been chosen for the job at hand. At least communications were kept to a bare minimum but sometimes he just wanted to yell at someone for getting him in this mess. It was totally insane and completely dangerous. The little blighters got everywhere and weren't afraid to kick up a fuss given half the chance. Primus was a little on his side though, it was only the very young sparklings that had found him recently and they were easy to trick.

The older ones would have tried to play with him or else report to one of the youth zone defence force that something was in the pipes. Most of the neutrals wouldn't care much for this sort of thing but if Hummer or Butterfly heard about it then who knew what would happen. Right now, Barricade was wedge in-between two of the sleeping quarters that faced the second clearance area which would lead to the main command centre. At least that was what the plans said anyway. This was gruelling work, long and boring to but it had to be done. All he needed was a big enough distraction to get into that area and upload the virus. Once that was done it was simply a case of getting out alive before the whole place blew up.

"Hewwo!" said a voice from above. Barricade looked up to see yet another sparkling looking down on him. He growled and then thought of a rather nasty idea. "Hello little one. Fancy helping me out?"

--

In another part of the Youth Zone, a figure sat and stared at nothing in particular. Gunshots of cruel laughter could be heard as a group departed from the clearance zone, and it shook Butterfly to the core. To see Sabatora again was hard enough to be forced to exchange words was a nightmare she wished to never re-live. Technically the fem was supposed to be patrolling a different sector but had offered to cover Trinity for a bit so that the other could check on her mother-unit. Sparkling births were rare now but each one was treated as a special case. Not that Butterfly would pay attention now; horrible memories were surfacing from her memory banks about what that fem had done to her all those vorns ago. The constant beatings, screaming and general torture for simply being a write-off spark. Even though she knew it not to be true, every single encounter brought those memories back to haunt her and there was no escape from them.

A steaming cup of energon brought Butterfly out of her thoughts and back into the real world, along with a friendly smile from Hummer her partner, "Hey there missy, not like you to be sitting around moping. What's up?"

Butterfly blew the steam off the drink and sighed, shaking her head before taking a long drink, "To be honest, I'm not sure. I guess I'm just worried" it was a lousy excuse.

Hummer nodded in agreement. That was the problem with the little fem, she cared a little too much about everyone who was close to her., "Don't worry about Prime, he's to responsible to go and get himself killed in some foolhardy way"

Only silence answered him and Hummer sighed, a long whistle that normally made her laugh. Even though he would never admit it out loud, Hummer worried about the fem a lot and sometimes wished that she were his daughter. That way he could yell a bit more at her to stop worrying and have some fun in life. But then again, another thought passed through his processor, one not entirely appropriate for his parameters. Primus help him if Prime did find out about their relationship.

"I know…it's just" she sighed, shoulders slumping a little before she stared up at the stars. There was a familiarity to the sigh, one filled with fear and regret. Hummer stared at her in shock, "Don't say that slagheap got in contact with you again!" he growled.

"N-no!" there was too much hesitation in the voice to convince Hummer and the fem was forced to look down and shiver slightly. The much larger male was using those eyes on her again, the ones she could never resist, "It was just a passing encounter, I didn't mean for it to happen" tears began forming though they wouldn't fall, "She…she threatened to take everything away from me"

A curse escaped from the heavy troopers lips before he turned back to watch the beautiful cybertronian before him. Her light blue optics were averted from his gaze, the energon cube forgotten completely and it appeared that she was trying to curl up tightly on herself. Without saying a word, Hummer grabbed her chin, tilted her head back and planted a kiss on her lips.

"You listen to me, and you listen well" he scolded, knowing that it was the only way to get through to her, "You are Prime's daughter, no matter what that slagging waste of a program says or any other bot for that matter"

Butterfly started at him in total shock, "But…"

Hummer sighed, "It doesn't matter to me or anyone else. She can't touch you, she wouldn't dare unless she was that stupid. You are protected from her. Just like the twins and Bumblebee. That monster cannot do anything to you under pain of death because you are Optimus's daughter. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a faltering in her emotions and the tiny fem wrapped her arms around his frame. Hummer smiled, holding her gently in a loving manner. Quietly the big mech decided that once this shift was over and his little princess safely tucked up, he was going to find Sabatora and give her a piece of his memory banks. She had no right to do this to Butterfly, not after everything that had happened before.

"Come on" he said after a little while, even though he longed to hold her forever, "We'd better get back on patrol or else we'll get reported"

--

There was a crash, several squeaks of surprise which were then followed by wails as something gushed out of a piping network with a sloshing sound. Ratchet looked from the medical wing of the youth zone just in time to see several sparklings run out of a room followed by a river of energon. He sighed, before charging quickly to see what the little blighters had gone and done this time, "What have you been told about playing in that room!" he shouted before hitting the stoppage mechanism with his hand.

This caused most of the main doors to close, but it was of little consequence really. Spillages like this had to be contained in order that sparklings didn't inhale anything nasty into their system. Of course when it was the little blighters who caused the problem to begin with it meant that they to got caught up in one of the nearest lock down areas with no problem. Turning and glaring at the small group that were huddled in a corner in terror, the medic sighed and recognised every last one of them.

It was the usual suspects of Bounce and Coded, with several others recruited for their mischief making cause which included the barely recognisable Bumblebee. The medical officer sighed and shook his head with half a mind to punish them all severely but knew that really they couldn't have anything done to them. "Right you lot, what were you doing in there?" he demanded.

"Medi to Ratchet, what the hell are you doing?" came a rather irate voice through his internal coms system as one of his medical orderlies got in contact with him. This was followed by a similar query from Midi, the other orderly who was assigned to watch the youth zones. Both were still training but were learning fast and hopefully would be able to join him out on the field as battle medics soon once some of the others were trained up to just below their level.

Ratchet sighed, "Some sparklings caused an energon leak in the main room, I shut it down to stop it spreading" simple and straight to the point as ever, Ratchet waited for the other two to reply.

"Is that all?" came Midi's voice sounding full of disbelief.

Medi chuckled to herself and he could almost hear the shaking of her head, "That's a fairly common thing for them to do actually. Set the elder ones on the clean up job they should be experts at that"

"What about the younger ones? Can't let them go unpunished" sighed Midi, obviously somewhere near the other but still using the com link.

"I think they're going to need a good old fashioned scrub…what about the repair work?" said Ratchet, indicating to the two older ones to get a move on whilst re-opening the doors.

There came a sigh, though it was hard to tell who did it, "Who knows. Not our job to sort it out, best to report it to head operations but they've got their hands full with something else so I doubt that it'll cause a stir" they said in unison.

"Understood" Ratchet rolled his optics before chasing after the three younger sparklings and trying to catch hold of them. The buggers were quick and could change direction at a seconds notice. Still they had to be caught and do that he would.

--

Barricade grinned as he slipped inside the main room, hearing the conversation and knowing that he had everything he now needed to complete this mission. With a grin he placed the small disc into the drive and set about typing out the access codes. He had barely less than five micro-minuets to get everything uploaded and set. It still hurt to be doing something like this but it had to be done.

"Final Code accepted. Please state time of detonation" said the computer relays, not aware of what dangerous programming it had just taken in. Barricade stopped and checked his internal clock, did some quick sums and then entered in the information before shutting down the system and preparing to escape.

Only three hours till the youth zone was no more. A trickle of sadness crept through his system but he had to ignore it. He was a Decepticon, with no emotions or feelings for anyone but himself.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Toy Spies

Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers in anyway shape or form, they belong to Hasbro and Paramount and the comic guys. The OC's are mine though. Please don't sue as I'm not making any money off this at all.

Authors note: oh dear, this is going to get tricky. I agree with the naughty deception's line…actually that gives me a nasty idea lol.

--

Chapter 3 – One and thirty minuets hours to go

Sparklings were usually fussy bits of broken data when it came to any form of washing, but for some odd reason a certain little yellow bot appeared to like it just a little too much. Bumblebee was in his element, having fun in the massive tub whilst managing to annoy Medi who had unfortunately pulled the short wire this particular time. Sighing heavily, the fembot scanned the water and plunged a hand in to pull the happily squealing Bee out of the water and glare at him, "All right you little microchip, where's the scrubbing brush gone?"

As usual she didn't get an audible response, just some sparkling dribblish that only they could seem to understand. With another scan around, the medical bot found the scrubbing brush on the other side of the tub where a bath toy had obviously been attacked with it. Of course this now meant the thing was useless indeed because synthetic material did not stand that well up against hardened metal. "Bumblebee! You're not meant to do that sort of thing!" she scolded.

The sparkling just chuckled as he was dropped back into the water and instantly started swimming to the opposite side of the pool, where it was deep. The tub was indeed a pool, salvaged from the remains of a hydrotherapy centre as the number of sparklings that lived in the zone it was generally easier to give them a mass bath. Medi sighed and shook her head, discarding the toy which looked as though one of the bigger bots has sat on it before turning back to the water and growling. She had better things to do than chase a disruptive little terror but knew that she couldn't leave him here.

"Where the pit have you gone?" she started to ask before a sudden wave of cleaning fluid which was bright pink, shot out. With a startled puffing sound, she saw Bumblebee giggling happily. Trying to hide a smirk, the little medic glared dangerously at the sparkling, "You have just done possible the silliest thing" she said and let out a growl.

Hearing that sound, Bumblebee took off, still carrying the cleaning fluid. Giving him a nice head start, Medi chased after him in her alt-mode which was a mini-truck that carried supplies. All the sparklings feared her like this, they soon grew out of it but it was a novel way to get them to behave half the time.

Turning down a corner, Bumblebee squeaked a greeting as he passed two larger bots and avoided squirting them. He disappeared around the corner, still giggling. Ratchet frowned, "What on cybertron is he doing out of the bath?"

Butterfly pushed the field medic back as Medi hurtled down the corridor, paused long enough to see the other fem point in the direction of where Bumblebee had gone and took off again. A smile rippled across her features, "That's why, looks like he's been causing havoc again"

Ratchet sighed and shook his head, "How you manage to cope with him I'll never work out Butterfly"

"He's my brother, I think that's about it" she shrugged before continuing on a little further down the corridor, "If you want to see really bad, wait till its feeding time. Then the monsters come out to play"

There was obviously something up with the little Fem, even though there was a joker edge to her voice it was down pan and flat. But it was futile to enquire about it; she was as stubborn as her old man when it came to such matters. Plus there was an easy enough guess as to what was going on.

"Optimus to Ratchet and Butterfly" came the voice of the Autobot leader which startled both bots out of the silence, for some reason the single was amplified to quite a loud sound. Twisting a digit around her audio sensors, Butterfly cursed under her breath, "Optimus, next time you do that I'm going to hit you over the head with a welding mallet and before you start," she cut in before the other could get a word in edgeways, "I don't care. You're still going to get hit with one"

Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle, "What is it sir?"

Optimus was obviously distracted by something as he didn't reply initially, "What's the status report in the zone?" he sounded a little worried.

"Nothing to report as out of the ordinary, at least not that I know of" said Butterfly, looking up to Ratchet to see if there was anything he knew.

"Same here, there's a couple of fembots expecting sometime soon but they're more than well equipped to deal with things right now…what's wrong?" there was an edge to Prime's voice, one he did not like at all.

"There's something…fstts…youth…..sffssfzzzzz" came the reply which broke up and then disappeared completely.

Both of the bots frowned and checked their receivers, they were working fine. Finally the youth zone defence force member sighed, "Damn power relays, looks like they're going haywire yet again"

"But surely they wouldn't cut off inter-personal comms?" said Ratchet, following the fem who was now heading down the corridor with a slightly lost look on her face.

"Sometimes they can, it's probably a lack of energon or the little twits set of the emergency field again or the computer did it itself" the sarcasm was hard to hide, "did it about a month or two ago so it'll be no big deal"

Ratchet didn't think so but kept his mouth shut at the approach of Elita1 who was looking decisively better now. The two Fems nodded at each other before reaching an intersection with an adjacent locking door. Removing a panel, Butterfly typed a series of numbers into a keypad and her palm against the scanner. The door opened and the fem let out a sigh, "Phew, just a systems glitch. Shouldn't take to long to sort out unless the sparklings freak or something similar"

Elita stared at Butterfly, "Are you sure it's nothing else? I mean with your communications gone…"

The other waved her hand in a jester of passive acceptance, "The amount of power outages, communications glitches, blackouts and countless other things that happen here that don't get reported would have Optimus shivering in his foot casing" she said and looked up at the sky, whilst leaning back against the panel to keep it open, "It's nothing. Look if you're that concerned I'll radio out as soon as we get everything back up and running".

Ratchet caught the look that passed between the two Fems, recognising it all too intently and wishing not for the first time that they could fight side by side. But Prime had refused to accept Butterfly to the Autobots side, not because she wasn't a good fighter or that she didn't get along with Elita, it was that he was terrified of losing her. The medic was inclined to notice that Elita was also terrified of this fact but it seemed much more different. It was true they there was no relation between them, Butterfly was Prime's daughter but by Sabatora and not Elita. However in moments like this, none of that mattered. They were both closely connected to the point where physical data-strains didn't matter.

Elita looked down at the ground, "You better or else Optimus will be severely pissed off. Not to mention me"

Ratchet sighed, "Don't worry she will. Come on, we better get back or else he'll start heading our way. How far does the dampening field go out?"

Butterfly made some rough calculations in her head, "About thirty or so miles, could be further. You should be able to contact him once you're past Short Circuit's place, we never seem to affect him to much"

"Fine, we'll try to get you from there then as well" he said, hoping to lessen the worry between the two.

Nodding, the fem transformed into her alt-mode, quickly followed by Ratchet and they took off through the rough streets that had once been teeming with life. Butterfly remained by the open door for a few long moments, looking lost and alone. Then with a sigh, she turned and sealed the door, "I wish you a safe journey"

--

Barricade was stuck.

He had planned to escape through the back passageways but had not banked on them being used as an educational facility which also doubled as a large playground. Getting away hadn't been too hard, just not getting noticed was the main problem. Now there were only two options left and one of them meant the whole plan getting exposed to early so he was trying the first. The main problem was that he was not a seeker and getting from building to building was hard work. He checked his internal clock and cursed.

One hour remaining and then there would be all sorts going on.

With a growl and a flash of his red optics, Barricade knew now that it was impossible for any communication systems to work. That was the first stage of the virus he had uploaded into the central computer. The rest he didn't really know about but considering who had invented the damn thing it was going to be pretty heavy going. Pausing on top of a building to get his bearings a bit better, Barricade found himself staring at a very unusual sight.

Upping the zoom on his optics, it was perfectly possible to see a Decepticon attack force just on the parameter of the dampening field. So that was how they were going to hide everything then was it? A sadistic grin crossed his face, whilst he sent a coded message across. True it was slow, old fashioned and probably the worst form of communication he could use but it might just get through to the others. Plus he wanted to know their plan of attack.

--

Reaching Short Circuit's place with no hassle, both Ratchet and Elita stopped before transforming back to their bi-pedal forms. Instantly it was obvious that something was up as the usual atmosphere of general calm and drinking was gone. Carefully drawing weapons, the pair began to circulate around to discover what was wrong. After a couple of minuets, Ratchet tried to hail Optimus on the comms, "Ratchet to Optimus. Come in"

There was silence, followed by hissing static. The medic frowned and signalled to Elita to move into the building to check inside. She nodded and also quickly tried the comms but got the same dull response. "Just what's going on here?" Elita asked quietly.

Ratchet shrugged and stepped inside the bar which doubled as a medical zone that was totally neutral. It was protected by the Youth Zone defence force as well but something was definitely not right. The room was dark, causing the pair to activate their seeker lights. What met their optics was a horrible display of brute force with mangled metal bodies strewed around the room, energon splattered every which way and everything of use completely smashed beyond recognition.

"Deceptions" growled Ratchet, instinctively scanning for any signs of trouble but finding it next to impossible to do so. Something was blocking all transmissions from this building and he didn't like it one little bit.

"That's not all" said Elita, gesturing over to a pile of bodies in the corner which appeared to have been ripped to total shreds. Ratchet stepped closer and realised that they bots had been part of the youth zone defence force but all of their communication and homing devices had been ripped out and smashed. Even the old fashioned pulsates which would give out a clear signal once regardless of the bot being alive or dead had been pulled out, shredded into millions of little pieces and then tossed carelessly away.

From the damage he could estimate that the attack had probably happened no later than last night, when the shift changes had taken place. A cold shiver ran through him that could mean only one thing.

Elita probably came up with the same conclusion as him and both were quickly running towards the door to get back as fast as possible. Suddenly a large metal door crashed down and proceeded to lock themselves tightly. Ratchet slammed into the metal and tried to push at it but it was useless.

"Out the back!" yelled Elita, hurrying that way only to hear a deafening crunch and another metal door slammed down there to. Then all around them the windows, walls and ceiling came alive with metal which locked into place firmly and airtight. "What is this?" asked Elita, sounding a mixture between confused, shocked and downright pissed off.

A voice from somewhere on the roof came down to them, a cruel evil chuckle accompanying it, "Sorry little Autobots but we couldn't let you just get out and spoil our lovely plan"

Ratchet growled, recognising the voice as Swindle, "What are you going to do to the youth zone!" he shouted.

"Use your imagination silly, that is if you have one of course," the chuckle continued now, longer and colder, "Shame that you have to stay here and miss everything but can't risk any messages getting out until it's to late. Still as they say all's fair in love and war"

With a final horrible click, the final locks were fastened tightly around which locked the two of them in completely and totally.

Elita turned to Ratchet, who was trying desperately to get in contact with anyone that was not a Decepticon, "What are we going to do?"

"Whatever we can!" he said, though there were already tears in his voice.

--

Reaching the assembled group, Swindle smiled before tossing Short Circuit hand away which he had kept to activate the security system, "Ratchet and Elita are all locked up sir. There's not chance that they'll get a message out now"

Starscream nodded, glaring at the distant figure of Barricade as he disappeared back down from sight with his orders, "Good, Megatron will be so pleased with this"

--

Optimus stared at the communication system, not understanding why the pit slag there was no response from the youth zone or Ratchet and Elita. Normally when this sort of thing happened, binary code could be used but nothing was getting through. Plus he was getting a strange old feeling in his spark which he did not like one bit.

Jazz stuck his head round the corner, "Hey chief, you're not going to believe whose on the hailing frequency"

Turning, Optimus frowned at his special ops officer before walking over with a sigh. He really wasn't fussed about the other areas, most were under control and there was an enough lull in the fighting for fixing to be done. However upon seeing that it was Megatron on the other side, something just didn't quite sit right with the Autobot leader.

"Open the frequency" he said.

"Chief?" asked Jazz in shock, prepared to send something winging Meg's way for causing an in-convience.

Optimus sighed, "Something's going on and I don't think he would be contacting us if he knew unless he wanted to gloat. Put him through"

Jazz paused and then sighed, cursing to himself in a variety of different languages and allowing access. It was strange to see Megatron on the end of the communication device but unusually there were fewer Deception's around, "What the slag do you think you're up to this time?"

Optimus was slightly taken aback and dimmed his optics slightly before brightening them again, "What are you talking about Megatron?"

"Don't play games with me Prime!" came the irate voice that always was directed his way, "You've put a stop on our communications to the youth zone haven't you? Thought you could…."

Prime nearly did a double take, "What? Wait…you can't get in contact with the youth zone either?"

That stopped Megatron in his tracks, he had just been about to launch into a full rant about how that was lowly when he had younglings in there that belonged to the Decepticon ranks but there was something odd about this whole situation. "You mean to tell me that you can't contact anyone there?"

Prime nodded, "That's correct."

"Even Butterfly?" there was a sudden different edge to Megaton's voice, one Prime had not heard in many years.

Jazz looked up at Prime, this was news to him indeed. Instantly his mind started working and he began calling up all sorts of programs and codes, which were directed to the youth zone area and also Short's place. Megatron yelled at Soundwave to do the same.

For the first time in several centuries of fighting, both leaders agreed to discover what was happening. They chose a fairly neutral spot as Megatron discovered to his dismay that on his base there was only Soundwave, with his cassettes, Sabatora who was in the brig and a handful of others.

"I hope this is just some glitch that has happened" said Prime earnestly.

Megatron shook his head, for a few seconds becoming the brother he had once been, "You have way to much hope Prime. Just no tears" and cut the link off.

--

TBC

Authors note: Hehe so Megs don't know what's going on, that could be an interesting one to resolve indeed. Heh much longer than what I originally intended but hopefully for the best. Next chapter there's only thirty minuets remaining, eek! Anyway please review and hopefully I'll have another chapter soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Toy Spies

Disclaimer: You know the routine well enough by now, don't own and probably will never do. OC's are mine though.

Author's notes: Well here we are the penultimate chapter. Only one more to go after this and prepare for tissues.

--

Chapter 4 – Time's up

Siren's blazed through the youth zone as Butterfly hurried along the intersecting corridors to reach the main output room. No one was responding on the comms at all and circuits were exploding all over the place, "Medi! Midi! Hummer!" she screamed pointlessly into the comms, skidding around a corner in desperation. Reaching the main door, the fembot pulled back to find absolute chaos with the display screens showing lines of broken data, smoke pouring from a central unit and the main energon line hanging down and threatening to catch fire. "What the slag happened?" she yelled, pushing her way through to find HCI battling desperately to get codes out.

The bot shook his head, "No idea, it was fine fifteen minuets ago and then it just started doing this. We're trying to get messages out but nothings working!" he yelled back and was suddenly hit full in the face by the whole section exploding. Both of them flew backwards and landed heavily in the remains of the back up computer which had shut itself off before the explosion could get to it. Butterfly rolled upright and stared in terror at HCI's burnt and destroyed face and chest armour. He was yelling like some new born spark and energon ran down his entire chest. She barely contained the yell of fear that wanted to escape from her throat.

"Get…out. All sparks…save" HCI managed to stutter out before finally offlinging and thudding to the ground. Slowly Butterfly stood up and stared in terror at the sight before her. Then a distant booming caught her attention and turning, she saw the first signs of an attack being launched at the front gates. Without thinking for her own safety, the small fem charged forwards and leapt up onto the tops of the buildings, easily recognising many of the Deception's and firing a volley at the seekers who streamed across the sky. "Youth Zone Defence Force!" she yelled, all fears gone, "Activate evacuation procedure 3290. Commanding officer dead! Repeat commanding officer dead. Stop those Decepitcreeps, get the sparklings and Fems out and get word to Optimus!"

More rounds of fire came streaming up from the other members as the seekers passed again, firing at the buildings and the defence force members. Hummer leapt to her side and gave her a reassuring smile, "Let's hope this isn't in vain…look out, here the slag heads come!"

As one the Deception's attacked, breaking through the front door and charging in with yells. The YZDF found themselves engulfed in fighting with hand to hand combat, pulse blasts and flashes of metal work. They were outnumbered, outranked and completely in over their heads but it had to be done. Barricade charged at Butterfly's unprotected back only to be sent sideways by Hummer who was watching over the younger. Blows were exchanged in harsh crunches whilst Butterfly found her hands full with Scorponok who was attempting to bite down on her vital neck wires. Drawing out her dual blades, the fem was able to dislodge the vicious multi-limbed Decepticon and turned to help Hummer.

A sudden burst of electricity fired along the length of the corridor, frying the circuits of everyone it touched. The light was blinding and parts of the wall started to collapse. With a burst of speed, Barricade disentangled himself long enough to push past the smaller bot and score a lucky blow to her head. The walls fell around the pair, smashing to the ground and instantly burying Hummer in a self made grave. Pushing herself up, Butterfly knew what had to be done.

Despite the hole in her head, the fem concentrated just long enough to send out a spark call, hoping that Optimus would be able to feel all her pain and worry. With a hiss, she started off towards the evacuation area, knowing that nothing else mattered bar the survival of the sparklings. She could only pray that no more death would occur this day.

--

Staring at the pile of rubble that separated him from the others, Barricade checked his internal clock and realised with a start that only five minuets left. With a growl he transformed and legged it to the main entrance. "Barricade to all Decepticons. Get the slag out of here, it's going to blow in less than five minuets!"

--

Standing on the complex that had once been a massive Library, Optimus stood with Jazz and Ironhide having left the others behind. Somehow turning up with more than two companions did not sit right with Optimus, given the situation. He just hoped that everything was just an overblown reaction but somewhere deep in his spark, he knew that this was going to be a bad day. "Cons a coming" rumbled Ironhide from his left and looking up, the leader of the Autobots saw his rival walking towards him.

Megatron looked slightly out of sorts without his gang of supporters around him, today only the ever loyal Soundwave was following with that dull expression which often when with the large mech. However it was clear to see that either had hostile intentions, something was definitely up. "Prime. My men aren't responding to any hails which means that they're likely to be up to something" said Megatron, hardly gloating at all.

Jazz snorted, "You mean you sent them off to cause havoc somewhere whilst this little distraction was going on more like"

"Easy Jazz" warned Optimus, turning back to his first lieutenant briefly before looking steadily towards the others, "Do you think they could be?"

"Affirmative" came Soundwave's reply before Prime could finish speaking.

Megatron looked back at his communications officer in shock, "What the slag are they doing there?"

"Mission unknown" came the dull monotone.

Ironhide grumbled, "We have to get there now. Slag all the talking, we have to get moving!"

The red eyed glare that Megatron gave the weapons specialist would have made any lesser bot cower in fear, "There's only five of us you rusted bolt of pit-slag. Even with Soundwave's Cassettes do you really…?" turning to look at Optimus, Megatron felt a stab in his spark that although brief was enough to tell him everything he needed to know, "Prime?"

Optimus was rooted to the spot, a sharp pain resounding around his spark chamber as another sort it out. He hadn't felt such desperate need for many a long century and was unsure of what it was exactly but upon accepting it as nothing fateful Prime was jolted back into the nightmarish world that Sabatora had created. Blinking his optics at the others voice, he didn't even acknowledge the question, "To the youth zone as fast as possible. Autobots roll out!"

Transforming into his alt-mode, Optimus set off at a quick pace followed by Ironhide whilst Jazz shot on ahead. Megatron nodded to his communications officer and became the fast moving yet, taking to the skies and charging off as fast as possible. Soundwave converted and followed, taking only a small amount of time to catch up to Ironhide.

_Please Primus_ Optimus thought to himself _Don't let it happen. _

--

Starscream flew over one final time, firing badly aimed pot-shots at the screaming masses below before spinning elegantly away at receiving Barricades message. Due to the field it was out of synch now but he knew to get a move on. The others followed upon receiving the message by their own means, turning back to take occasional pot-shots as well in order to ensure that no one would follow. Butterfly stumbled down a corridor, spotting a bunch of terrified sparklings up ahead.

Medi was trying her best to rally everyone together but it was hopeless. The sparklings were crying and trying to run away, the Fems were panicking beyond their circuits and practically everyone on the YZFD had been targeted and taken down or damaged beyond repair. "Medi…status report" Butterfly managed to stammer out though she felt like she was about to offline at any given second.

Medi turned her energon stained face to the other, "You…you can't take it…n-not in your…state"

Before the other could object a second loud wail took up, the emergency lights flashing and the grills arising around them before locking into place with heavy duty locks. The wailing got louder and louder, with the walls and floor moving around to change position and slowly entrap the group. "What?" asked one of the fems.

A screen appeared on a nearby wall, black and motionless. As the group watched, green lines began to fill the screen which displayed the cybertronian number of twenty. It started clicking down through the rest of the numbers.

"The self-destruct device…someone must have activated it!" said Medi terrified.

The words spread throughout the assembled group and mass wailing occurred. Pure fear was a deadly thing. There was no escape this time and Butterfly understood that. It just felt such a waste, she stared at the wall monitor. Eight seconds left.

Bumblebee suddenly broke free of the group and ran towards a closing wall. "Bumblebee!" screamed Butterfly, rushing after him and just managing to catch him in a tumbling fall that saw the pair through the small gap of the door and into each others arms.

A single click and the world around them exploded in a fine white light.

--

End note: Ain't I just mean? Well review and soon I'll have the ending up I promise.


	5. Chapter 5

Toy Spies

Disclaimer: Can you give me a break on writing these things as I'm finished now? Please?

Author's note: Final chapter everyone.

--

Chapter 5 – Primus's Playground

The debris of the youth zone was worse than anything that any had ever seen. True there had been battles that caused far more destruction but looking upon the twisted metal husk, knowing that there were at least a thousand sparklings and Fems in the remains was enough to break any spark into a thousand pieces. Optimus stared in total horror at the wreckage, not wanting to believe what he was witnessing. It just couldn't be real, none of it could be. The youth zone was a neutral area, a place for sparklings to grow up in not a war zone. It was a harsh reality to come walking into even though the resulting noise and light from the self-destruct device had been visible from miles away. He wanted to break down and cry, yell at someone or something and rip apart the Decepticons who had done this evil act.

But Megatron had gotten there first.

The Decepticon lord was not off the fritz with his men, he was attempting to single-headedly rip out all their processors in one go. There wasn't a word in the universe that could describe how incredibly mad the insane mech was. There were profanities coming out of his mouth that were so old that Prime didn't recognise half of them and the gun was failing around though not being fired as Megatron was determined not to cause anything worse than what he was seeing. Flinging Starscream down onto the ground, he kicked the seeker repeatedly, "What the pit-slagging fritz were you thinking of this time Starscream!" he yelled, loud enough for everyone on Cybertron to hear.

Prime turned away from the actions of the other, knowing that he could not exact his desire for revenge like the other could. His men were not the cause of anything and his spark felt heavy with regret and loss. Elita crept up to him, having been released from the remains of Short's place along with Ratchet a few minuets ago. They had been lucky to survive really as the blast had covered most of the neutral sector. Taking hold of his hand in both of hers, she looked up at him silently, her eyes brimming over with tears.

No words needed to be spoken and carefully the pair embraced one another in silent comfort that would take centuries to heal. Jazz peeled his optics away before staring at the graveyard of the youth zone. He sighed, long and slow knowing that his words were going to have to be spoken carefully, "Who gets the job of informing the others and going through…" the sentence refused to be finished and he looked down at the ground completely ashamed of himself.

Ironhide glared at the Decepticons, slightly confused over Megatron's rather pissed off reaction but not commenting on it, "They should be made to clean up their dirty work" he grumbled, glad to know that Chromi was well out of harms way.

Ratchet shook his head sadly; there were the stains of tears clearly on his face, "No. It's not their job to do that sort of thing. There may be survivors; we should start looking as soon as possible"

Prime looked up at the medical officer, a slight glimmer of hope in his optics, "Survivors?" he asked.

Everyone turned, including the irate Megatron at such a suggestion. Ratchet appeared to pale a little, "There's a chance, a very very small chance of survivors…I think" he paused and then sighed, "I hope so at least"

"What's the chance?" asked Elita carefully, trying to hide any emotion from her voice.

"2 per cent" mumbled Ratchet, hoping that he didn't sound like a fool.

There was a long pause as everyone mulled this over. An electric spazz came from somewhere in the remains as another section went offline forever.

Then a few surprised yelps came and Swindle, Starscream and Barricade were knocked forward, "You three search with the Autobots for survivors" growled Megatron dangerously, his red optics flashing.

Prime stared at him, almost as if looking over a pair of glasses. Megatron snorted, pretending not to be fussed over the situation, "She was my niece"

Elita frowned but didn't comment, the reality sinking in suddenly.

"Let's go" said Prime, starting forward and only realising after a few steps that Megatron was also following behind.

--

Despite the world being completely white with only the occasional green flickering of code, Bumblebee was in his element playing with Butterfly. He didn't register that anything was out of the ordinary or that his elder sister was colder than normal, he was just enjoying the sparkling past time of running around and enjoying himself. Butterfly smiled and caught the yellow micro-chip before picking him up and placing him on her shoulder, "You are a pest Bee"

Bumblebee giggled and battered at her face happily, clicking away childishly, "Hehe well what do you expect when you don't play with me?"

"Hey I do, just I tend to be on duty when you're up you micro-monster" replied Butterfly, swooping Bee down onto her lap and tickling him.

As he sat and giggled helplessly, Bee noticed that the hole was gone and there was no damage. Maybe that had all been a nasty dream and the loud noise was Bouncer playing musax really loudly again. He tended to do that in the middle of the night. He wriggled out of the others grip and charged around her in circles until the other was quite dizzy and fell onto her back.

With a yell of joy, Bee clambered onto her front and grinned happily, "I beat you!" he crooned loudly.

She let out one of her rare laughs before suddenly sitting bolt upright and locked him tightly in a strong hug, "No you didn't". The fem planted a load of kisses on his head.

Bee tried to wriggle out of this embrace, "Yuk! Stop it! Kissing for jemmies!" really he liked getting this sort of attention from Butterfly but there was no way he was going to admit it. Not in a million-trillion-years.

He looked up in time to see her smiling and noticed that there were tears in her optics. Bee stopped and frowned, reaching up to rub them away, "Why sis cry? She has no reason"

The other shook her head, the plat falling over her shoulder enough so that Bee could start to tug at it in a playful manner, "No reason Bee. None you need to know about…ow…hey stop that!"

Bee managed to wriggle his way out of the grip and continuing to hold onto the braid, he had gone behind her and was tugging on it tightly, refusing to let go. "Bee!" she scolded whilst trying desperately not to laugh to hard, failing in the process, "I'm going to turn you into an energon cookie if you don't stop that this instant!"

She tried to wriggle around to grab him but missed and ended up falling back again. Bee laughed at her but then started yelping as his sister rolled onto her front and caught hold of one of his legs, "Now I've got you"

Instead of reacting, Bumblebee just stuck his tongue out at her and continued to hug her braid as if it were the stuffed toy back on the ark. He would have to give that back to her next time he came to the youth zone. Seeing her smile happily, Bee squeaked in surprise as she pulled him into a hug again but this time he returned it with a series of clicks.

"I'm sorry to break you apart but I'm afraid time's up" came a different voice, old and deep with a hint of authority but also great wisdom and awe. Bumblebee blinked in surprise as Butterfly stood up, still holding onto him but not turning around to address the other figure. "Can't I have just five more minuets?" she asked, sounding upset.

Just above her shoulder, Bumblebee could make out a figure standing behind her but couldn't focus on the details. All he knew was the he was a large mech indeed, with a noble feeling and a faceplate similar to that of Optimus Prime. The other was also a shade of red he had never quite seen before but it was obscured as if Bee was suddenly very sleepy. He did notice that the other shook his head solemnly, "I have already allowed you more time than I really should have. It is time for him to go back"

Butterfly nodded sadly, trying to hold back more tears as she held even more tightly onto Bumblebee even though they were already spilling down her face armour and onto the little yellow bot below her, "I will miss you so much" she whispered.

Bumblebee stared at her quizzically, not understanding what she was saying in the slightest and reached a hand out to touch her cheek once again. However the white world dissolved before he could do so and the heavy dark of recharge claimed him.

Staring at the place where Bumblebee had just been, Butterfly found herself desperately wanting to curl up and cry but a hand latched onto her shoulder and she understood that there was no going back now. This was the matrix and she was one with it now.

Primus smiled warmly as he turned her around, "Do not worry Butterfly, you shall see him again. Much sooner than you realise. I have plans for you. Many great adventures that will ultimately see us all through to the end. The Matrix will replenish you for the time being"

He caught hold of the fem as she fell into his arms, apparently asleep. Smiling gently, he ran his hand through the plat and couldn't help but sigh, "Out of all the Prime's I never suspected you would be born to Optimus. Still my future herald, you will outshine the stars"

Primus sat down, still holding onto Butterfly and began singing an ancient song. One that was long forgotten but had been implemented well within Butterfly's spark a long time ago.

--

Barricade had given into the depression of the whole situation by forcibly attacking Starscream. Not that Megatron cared in the slightest; getting the truth of the situation out of the fighter had helped him start to formulate more plans of punishment that was going to be delivered to all of his men with Starscream getting the main focus for his futile thinking. He had left the pair fighting a long while ago and began searching through the remains with the others. Vaguely he could hear the fighting in the distance but didn't respond to it, instead stopping at seeing the half-remains of a fem he thought he recognised.

Sliding down the rough incline, he stared at the body and sighed at seeing Trinity with a terrified and lost look in the dead optics. She had been one of the few that he considered worthy of being his sparkmate once but he had never told her for fear of rejection. Kneeling down next to her, he sighed and ran his hand over her face to shut off the look, "I'm sorry. I should have been watching my men better" he said quietly.

"Whose down there Megatron?" came Jazz's voice, only slightly laced with the hatred that he felt for the other.

The leader rose, not caring to comment, "Trinity" he said simply and looked around. There were others here that much he could work out but it was going to take hours to get through them all. "How's Prime working this?" he looked up to the other, realising that he had been wandering around in a semi-daze for the last few hours.

Jazz sighed and clambered down so that he was next to the other, for once he didn't care for power dynamic's they were all in this horrid situation together on equal standings. "We've started at the back and are working our way forward. Ratchet guessed the most of the casualties" he paused with a shudder there, "would be towards the escape routes"

Megatron nodded and started to head back up the waste around him, almost placing a hand on Jazz's shoulder but deciding against it. No good causing a fight out here at a time like this.

"Did you really know nothing about this?" asked Jazz, sounding distant and vague.

Megatron paused for a second, thinking things over and shaking his head, "Do you think I would be here if I knew this was happening? I would be hiding in the deepest bunker I've got with all my men between me and that enraged fool Prime"

A smirk crossed Jazz's lips, "That's true. Thank you"

"For what?"

There was no response to give and the pair began making their way to the others, the conversation instantly being forgotten about.

--

There was a sound. Distant and foreboding. Then a rumble of thunder and a flash of light. With a start Bumblebee awoke to find himself in an almost nightmarish world of jagged metal and burnt out circuits. It was all blackened and unwelcoming, unlike the purity of the place he had just been in. A large droplet of water struck his head and as he looked up, the sky sent down a shower. He blinked his optics, trying to understand what it was as rain seldom fell on Cybertron but the hissing sound of circuit breakers told him enough to know that whatever this was, it was cleaning everything bad away.

Tilting his head to the side, he thought he saw something glinting in the corner of a wall that was still standing and realised with a shock that it was the youth zone emblem. Looking around hurriedly, his tiny processor began working and recalled the events before he had woken up in the white place. How could this all have happened and where was Butterfly. Trying to stand up, Bumblebee got his answer as he noticed there were a pair of arms around his body.

Twisting around, he found himself almost staring directly into Butterfly's face though it was dark and cold. Wriggling out of her grip was not as hard as it usually was and he blinked at her, feeling a pull at his spark that was completely alien to him. Gently he pushed at Butterfly's shoulder, "Fly?" he asked quietly, expecting to hear an all too familiar groan and be swatted away.

She didn't move. There was no response at all. Bumblebee shook her again, this time with both hands and gave a tiny yelp when her head lolled over to the side and exposed the hole there. It was larger than he had originally thought it to be. "Butterfly? Please, wake up!" he said, shaking her again before rushing around to grab the plat and tug at it, hardly noting the blackened burns on the once shimmering strands.

Still not response and a horrid thought was dawning on his little mind, "Butterfly! Please wake up! You can't be gone. Please" he pleaded, going back around to the front and shaking her hard again before breaking down into a series of tears when she wouldn't respond.

"Fly…don't go!"

--

Dealing with this much death was taking its toll on everyone present. Even Ratchet who was designed to be able to cope was having trouble as more sparklings were found and identified but still no survivors. The medic was beginning to believe that his prediction had been widely inaccurate. Prime had sent Elita back to base as she was getting hysterical, along with Ironhide so that more could be fetched. But he knew that before they even got half way there would be others streaming in from all sides.

His spark was getting past the point of surviving when something happened. Something so extraordinary that it defied all the odds. Megatron had gone down one of the steeper sides, elected by Jazz's foot incidentally, to where a large door was. Ratchet had the feeling that one or more of the sparklings could have gone that way in a mad panic, but he had said it was just a theory.

Reaching the bottom finally, Megatron grumbled about something incoherently but then thought he heard something. It was only a tiny sound but one that made his spark give a leap. Reaching the door, he listened intently but cursed at being unable to work out what it was from here. The door was a thick alloy, it would take far too long to blast through or even weld it was just that thick. He cursed and thought about getting Starscream to check over the next area but decided against it. That slagging git had already caused enough damage for one day.

"Prime!" he yelled up to the other, knowing that the comms were still offline to some residual dampening.

Optimus sighed and looked down, "What is it Megatron?"

"There's something alive on the other side of this door. Not sure what but something is definitely there!" came the reply.

Instantly all the Autobots were trying to get over the gaps between the damaged walls and the door to the other side. Prime surprisingly managed it first and slipped down into the darkened corridor. Flicking on his external lights, he scanned around the area, registering the sounds of his men and also the tiny sound of a sparkling crying. He had only ever heard it once but it was a sound that could never be forgotten.

The others recognised it as well and silently they began searching though the rain was making things a lot more difficult. Looking up, Prime saw the holes in the metal and realised with horror that the blast had ripped through this part in sections. For anything to survive it would have had to have taken them a merry horrid dance.

Jazz was up ahead scanning intently when he stepped on something soft. Looking down in confusion, his lights picked out the broken and battered form of Butterfly. He sighed and knelt down next to her, extending a hand to her shoulder with the intention of turning her over, "Oh the chief's going to be so annoyed to find you like this" Jazz whispered quietly.

However he let out a yelp of fear as something else suddenly touched one of his extended digits and in a sad little voice said, "Make her wake up".

"Whoa!" he yelled, staring in disbelief at what he was seeing.

The others quickly looked up, their lights blazing towards Jazz's frame, "Jazz?" asked Prime carefully.

The lieutant had picked something up and was holding it tightly to his chest, "Prime get over here now!"

Without waiting for another astrosecond, Prime was over by the others side and staring into the large blue optics of Bumblebee. Without hearing Jazz's whispered exclamation of "Thank Primus", Optimus had taken the little sparkling out of the others arms and was wrapping his own tightly around the little sparkling. "Bumblebee"

"Optimus" came the teary little voice from somewhere in his chest plate, "Make Fly wake up. Please, make her wake up"

Staring down at the form of his eldest, Prime could not stop the tears and knew at that moment that only Bumblebee was left standing.

End

Author's note: grabs a tissue to stop cry Arrr poor Bee, all alone and unable to understand what's going on. I would do a reflective thing but I think it's just a nice place to finish because we practically know the rest from there on. If people want me to do a reflective piece then I may eventually but not right now. And yes Primus does have plans for Butterfly though I'm not yet sure as to what cause he hasn't told me.

Anyway a big thank you to all my reviewers and hope you'll stick around with my other future works. Yours ever faithfully. Wacky Walnut.


End file.
